Vietnam economy grows at highest rate in five years

Employees load products onto shelves at a Fivimart supermarket in Hanoi December 26, 2015. Vietnam reported that its economy grew 6.68 percent in 2015, the fastest pace in five years, helped by an expanding industrial sector and record foreign direct investment. - REUTERS

HANOI: Vietnam’s economy in 2015 grew at its fastest pace in five years, official figures showed Saturday, shaking off regional economic worries with strong exports, record foreign investment and buoyant domestic consumption.

For decades, the country suffered from runaway inflation -- with triple digit increases in the 1980s and rates as high as 28.3 percent as recently as August 2008. - AFP